New tour: a daytrip to Tokaj Wine Country

My food and wine tours are really popular, it makes me very happy as I’m very proud of our gastronomy and of the wines my country has to offer.

The new tour takes you to Tokaj, probably the most known Hungarian wine region, that’s where Tokaji Aszu, the most famous Hungarian sweet white wine comes from.

The tour includes the visit of several little villages and local winemakers, it also introduces you the Jewish heritage and traditions of the Tokaj wine region. Let me know if you’re interested, I’d be happy to send you more details.

A beautiful day touring Eger and the Eger wine country

We’re just back from another great countryside tour. We visited Eger, a small town today with exciting history. The Eger Castle witnessed the extreme courage and patriotism of its defenders who withstood the Ottomans’ 5-week-long siege in 1542.

We started by discovering Eger’s Basilica and the University, which is home to the Camera Obscura, Eger’s Eye, probably the most interesting thing in town. There are only 3 camera obscuras around the world, it’s so much fun to spy on what’s going on around the city.

We took a pleasant walk in the old town and tasted some Lángos, which was delicious. We visited the castle, the scene of the fight in 1552, I was telling stories from ‘The eclipse of the crescent moon’, a Hungarian novel about the great victory of the Hungarian defenders of the Eger Castle.

After visiting the local wine museum in the afternoon we drove to the Valley of the Beautiful Women and tasted the best red and white wines of the Eger wine country.

Hungarian Wines – the Etyek-Buda Wine Region

The wine region is very often named Budapest’s vineyard because of its closeness to the capital city. It was officially formed in 1997 although local wine production originates from the Middle Ages. Due to calcareous clay soils the region is famous for the production of high acid sparkling wines.

Because of the region’s ecological environment the most important characteristic of the wines are their imparting, vibrant acidity. The best-known white types are Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Gris. Red wines are still an exception in the region but you can taste some interesting Pinot Noir and Cabernet, too.

Local winemakers are absolutely charming and would be happy to offer you not only their best selection of wines but a light lunch, too, join my “Etyek Wine Tour” to see and taste more!

 

 

Lake Balaton Tour

Hungarian people named the lake Balaton the Hungarian sea almost a hundred years ago. That’s where most of us spend at least a few days in the summer, go camping for a school excursion or ice skating in the winter. That’s also where many of our friends from East Germany spent their summer vacations during the communist era, but that’s an entire different story.

The lake is about 80 km long, it’s the  biggest freshwater lake in Central Europe. The water is of a very beautiful green, and is smooth and silky, no wonder that the neighborhood is the number one tourist destination of locals. It’s a holiday resort, the paradise of sailers, windsurfers and kiters, the venue of a few great summer music festivals and a perfect quiet place for chilling out.

The Lake Balaton Tour takes you to the pretty Northern shore of the lake, a mountainous region with extinct volcanoes, highlands and several wine regions. The tour also includes rarities of the Hungarian architecture, I show you around the medieval castle of Nagyvázsony, the castle-town of Veszprém and the elegant Festetics palace of Keszthely. We visit charming little towns, like Tihany, which is said to be the richest Hungarian town and Balatonfüred, where we can take a little walk at the marina.  let’s not forget about food and drink, I’ll introduce you to local farmers of the Kál basin and winemakers of the Badacsony wine region.

 

Hungarian Wines – the Eger Wine Region

The Eger region’s wine culture has a history of over a thousand years, and essentially it has always determined the life of the local people. The most recognized red wine of the region is the Bull’s Blood (“Bikavér”) but white wine is also produced due to the favorable environment.

The climate is characterized by relatively late spring and is rather dry. The soil is varied, the most typical is brown forest soil covering volcanic rhyolite tuff.

By the beginning of the Communist era, as a result of nationalization quality production got replaced by quantity production and led to producing unpretentious wines. Because of the terribly poor quality of the wines both domestic and international reputation declined considerably. By the end of the 1970’s the Eger wines became in fact high acid, often bitter and astringent, even dilute. The renaissance of the region’s wines and wine production started in the mid-1990’s and it’s time to be very proud of them, again.

One of the best-known Hungarian wine brands is the Bull’s Blood of Eger. It ‘s medium-bodied and is characterized by a deep ruby color with relatively high acidity. Its smoothness is due to the extended ageing (12 months) in oak barrels. Bull’s Blood is a cuvée, and officially it has to contain at least three different grapes.

As for the local whites, one can taste a great variety of Riesling, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel, Traminer, and Zenit wines.

Book an “Eger and wine tour by car” with me if you’re interested in taking a walk around the vineyards, talking to local farmers and winemakers and learning about all the secrets of the magical Bull’s Blood!